TO PROBA,1 A DEVOTED HANDMAID OF GOD, BISHOP AUGUSTIN, A SERVANT OF CHRIST
AND OF CHRIST'S SERVANTS, SENDS GREETING IN THE NAME OF THE LORD OF LORDS.

CHAP.
I.-- I. Recollecting your request and my promise, that as soon as time and
opportunity should
be given
by Him to whom we pray, I would write you something
on the subject of prayer to God, I feel it my duty now to discharge this debt,
and in the love of Christ to minister to the satisfaction of your pious desire.
I cannot express in words how greatly I rejoiced because of the request, in
which I perceived how great is your solicitude about this supremely important
matter. For what could be more suitably the business of your widowhood than
to continue in supplications night and day, according to the apostle's admonition, "She
that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and continueth in supplications
night and day"?' It might, indeed, appear wonderful that solicitude about
prayer should occupy your heart and claim the first place in it, when you are,
so far as this world is concerned, noble and wealthy, and the mother of such
an illustrious family, and, although a widow, not desolate, were it not that
you wisely understand that in this world and in this life the soul has no sure
portion.

2. Wherefore
He who inspired you with this thought is assuredly doing what He promised
to His disciples
when
they were grieved, not for themselves, but
for the whole human family, and were despairing of the salvation of any one,
after they heard from Him that it was easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. He
gave them this marvellous and merciful reply: "The things which are impossible
with men are possible with God."' He, therefore, with whom it is possible
to make even the rich enter into the kingdom of heaven, inspired you with that
devout anxiety which makes you think it necessary to ask my counsel on the
question how you ought to pray. For while tie was yet on earth, He brought
Zaccheus,3 though rich, into the kingdom of heaven, and, after being glorified
in His resurrection and ascension, He made many who were rich to despise this
present world, and made them more truly rich by extinguishing their desire
for riches through His imparting to them His Holy Spirit. For how could you
desire so much to pray to God if you did not trust in Him? And how could you
trust in Him if you were fixing your trust in uncertain riches, and neglecting
the wholesome exhortation of the apostle: "Charge them that are rich in
this world that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but
in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good,
that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate,
laying up in store for themselves a good foundation, that they may lay hold
on eternal life" ? 4

CHAP.
II.-- 3. It becomes you, therefore, out of love to this true life, to account
yourself "desolate" in this world, however great the prosperity
of your lot may be. For as that is the true life, in comparison with which
the present life, which is much loved, is not worthy to be called life, however
happy and prolonged it be, so is it also the true consolation promised by the
Lord in the words of Isaiah, "I will give him the true consolation, peace
upon peace," s without which consolation men find themselves, in the midst
of every mere earthly solace, rather desolate than comforted. For as for riches
and high rank, and all other things in which men who are strangers to true
felicity imagine that happiness exists, what comfort do they bring, seeing
that it is better to be independent of such things than to enjoy abundance
of them, because, when possessed, they occasion, through our fear of losing
them, more vexation than was caused by the strength of desire with which their
possession was coveted ? Men are not made good by possessing these so-called
good things, but, if men have become good otherwise, they make these things
to be really good by using them well. Therefore true comfort is to be found
not in them, but rather in those things in which true life is found. For a
man can be made blessed only by the same power by which he is made good.

4. It
is true, indeed, that good men are seen to be the sources of no small comfort
to others in
this world.
For if we be harassed by poverty, or saddened
by bereavement, or disquieted by bodily pain, or pining in exile, or vexed
by any kind of calamity, let good men visit us, men who can not only rejoice
with them that !rejoice, but also weep with them that weep,6 and who know how
to give profitable counsel, and win us to express our feelings in conversation:
the effect is, that rough things become smooth, heavy burdens are lightened,
and difficulties vanquished most wonderfully. But this is done in and through
them by Him who has made them good by His Spirit. On the other hand, although
riches may abound, and no bereavement befal us, and health of body be enjoyed,
and we live in our own country in peace and safety, if, at the same time, we
have as our neighbours wicked men, among whom there is not one who can be trusted,
not one from whom we do not apprehend and experience treachery, deceit, outbursts
of anger, dissensions, and snares, in such a case are not all these other things
made bitter and vexatious, so that nothing sweet or pleasant is left in them?
Whatever, therefore, be our circumstances in this world, there is nothing truly
enjoyable without a friend. But how rarely is one found in this life about
whose spirit and behaviour as a true friend there may be perfect confidence!
For no one is known to another so intimately as he is known to himself, and
yet no one is so well known even to himself that he can be sure as to his own
conduct on the morrow; wherefore, although many are known by their fruits,
and some gladden their neighhours by their good lives, while others grieve
their neighbours by their evil lives, yet the minds of men are so unknown and
so unstable, that there is the highest wisdom in the exhortation of the apostle: "Judge
nothing before the time until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the
hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts;
and then shall every man have praise of God."'

5. In
the darkness, then, of this world, in which we are pilgrims absent from the
Lord as long as "we walk by faith and not by sight,"2 the Christian
soul ought to feel itself desolate, and continue in prayer, and learn to fix
the eye of faith on the word of the divine sacred Scriptures, as "on a
light shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in
our hearts."3 For the ineffable source from which this lamp borrows its
light is the Light which shineth in darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth
it not- the Light, in order to seeing which our hearts must be purified by
faith; for "blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God; "4
and "we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, foe we shall
see Him as He is." 5 Then after death shall come the true life, and after
desolation the true consolation, that life shall deliver our "souls from
death "that consolation shall deliver our "eyes from tears," and,
as follows in the psalm, our feet shall be delivered from falling; for there
shall be no temptation there.6 Moreover, if there be no temptation, there will
be no prayer; for there we shall not be waiting for promised blessings,: but
contemplating the blessings actually bestowed; wherefore he adds, "I will
walk before the Lord in the land of the living," 7 where we shall then
be--not in the wilderness of the dead, where we now are: "For ye are dead," says
the apostle, "and your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory." s
For that is the true life on which the rich are exhorted to lay hold by being
rich in good works; and in it is the true consolation, for want of which, meanwhile,
a widow is "desolate" indeed, even though she has sons and grandchildren,
and conducts her household piously, entreating all dear to her to put their
hope in God: and in the midst of all this, she says in her prayer, "My
soul thirsteth for Thee; my flesh longeth in a dry and thirsty land, where
no water is;" 9 and this dying life is nothing else than such a land,
however numerous our mortal comforts, however pleasant our companions in the
pilgrimage, and however great the abundance of our possessions. You know how
uncertain all these things are; and even if they were not uncertain, what would
they be in comparison with the felicity which is promised in the life to come!

6. In
saying these things to you, who, being a widow, rich and noble, and the mother
of an illustrious
family,
have asked from me a discourse on prayer,
my aim has been to make you feel that, even while your family are spared to
you, and live as you would desire, you are desolate so long as you have not
attained to that life in which is the true and abiding consolation, in which
shall be fulfilled what is spoken in prophecy: "We are satisfied in the
morning with Thy mercy, we rejoice and are glad all our days; we are made glad
according to the days wherein Thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein
we have seen evil." ,o

CHAP.
III.-- 7. Wherefore, until that consolation come, remember, in order to your "continuing in prayers and supplications night and day," that,
however great the temporal prosperity may be which flows around you, you are
desolate. For the apostle does not ascribe this gift to every widow, but to
her who, being a widow indeed, and desolate, "trusteth in God, and continueth
in supplication night and day." Observe, however, most vigilantly the
warning which follows: "But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while
she liveth;" ,2 for a person lives in those things which he loves, which
he greatly desires, and in which he believes himself to be blessed. Wherefore,
what Scripture has said of riches: "If riches increase, set not your heart
upon them,"12 I say to you concerning pleasures: "If pleasures increase,
set not your heart upon them." Do not, therefore,'think highly of yourself
because these things are not wanting, but are yours abundantly, flowing, as
it were, from a most copious fountain of earthly felicity. 'By all means look
upon your possession of these things with indifference and contempt, and seek
nothing from them beyond health of body. For this is a blessing not to be despised,
because of its being necessary to the work of life until "this mortal
shall have put on immortality"1 in other words, the true, perfect, and
everlasting health, which is neither reduced by earthly infirmities nor repaired
by corruptible gratification, but, enduring with celestial rigour, is animated
with a life eternally incorruptible. For the apostle himself says, "Make
not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof," 2 because we
must take care of the flesh, but only in so far as is necessary for health; "For
no man ever yet hated his own flesh,"3 as he himself likewise says. Hence,
also, he admonished Timothy, who was, as it appears, too severe upon his body,
that he should "use a little wine for his stomach's sake, and for his
often infirmities." 4

8. Many
holy men and women, using every precaution against those pleasures in which
she that liveth,
cleaving
to them, and dwelling in them as her heart's
delight, is dead while she liveth, have cast from them that which is as it
were the mother of pleasures, by distributing their wealth among the poor,
and so have stored it in the safer keeping of the treasury of heaven. If you
are hindered from doing this by some consideration of duty to your family,
you know yourself what account you can give to God of your use of riches. For
no one knoweth what passeth within a man, "but the spirit of the man which
is in him." s We ought not to judge anything "before the time until
the Lord come who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and
will make manifest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have
praise of God." 6 It pertains, therefore, to your care as a widow, to
see to it that if pleasures increase you do not set your heart upon them, lest
that which ought to rise that it may live, die through contact with their corrupting
influence. Reckon yourself to be one of those of whom it is written, "Their
hearts shall live for ever." 7

CHAP.
IV. -- 9. You have now heard what manner of person you should be if you would
pray; hear, in
the next
place, what you ought to pray for. This is
the subject on which you have thought it most necessary to ask my opinion,
because you were disturbed by the words of the apostle: "We know not what
we should pray for as we ought;"8 and you became alarmed lest it should
do you more harm to pray otherwise than you ought, than to desist from praying
altogether. A short solution of your difficulty may be given thus: "Pray
for a happy life." This all men wish to have; for even those whose lives
are worst and most abandoned would by no means live thus, unless they thought
that in this way they either were made or might be made truly happy. Now what
else ought we to pray for than that which both bad and good desire, but which
only the good obtain ?

CHAP.
V. -- 10. You ask, perchance, What is this happy life? On this question the
talents and leisure
of many
philosophers have been wasted, who, nevertheless,
failed in their researches after it just in proportion as they failed to honour
Him from whom it proceeds, and were unthankful to Him. In the first place,
then, consider whether we should accept the opinion of those philosophers who
pronounce that man happy who lives according to his own will. Far be it, surely,
from us to believe this; for what if a man's will inclines him to live in wickedness
? Is he not proved to be a miserable man in proportion to the facility with
which his depraved will is carried out ? Even philosophers who were strangers
to the worship of God have rejected this sentiment with deserved abhorrence.
One of them, a man of the greatest eloquence, says: "Behold, however,
others, not philosophers indeed, but men of ready power in disputation, who
affirm that all men are happy who live according to their own will. But this
is certainly untrue, for to wish that which is unbecoming is itself a most
miserable thing; nor is it so miserable a thing to fail in obtaining what you
wish as to wish to obtain what you ought not to desire."9 What is your
opinion? Are not these words, by whomsoever they are spoken, derived from the
Truth itself? We may therefore here say what the apostle said of a certain
Cretan poet10 whose sentiment had pleased him: "This witness is true."

11. He, therefore, is truly happy who has all that he wishes to have, and
wishes to have nothing which he ought not to wish. This being understood, let
us now observe what things men may without impropriety wish to have. One desires
marriage; another, having become a widower, chooses thereafter to live a life
of continence; a third chooses to practise continence though he is married.
And although of these three conditions one may be found better than another,
we cannot say that any one of the three persons is wishing what he ought not:
the same is true of the desire for children as the fruit of marriage, and for
life and health to be enjoyed by the children who have been received,- of which
desires the latter is one with which widows remaining unmarried are for the
most part occupied; for although, refusing a second marriage, they do not now
wish to have children, they wish that the children that they have may live
in health. From all such care those who preserve their virginity intact are
free. Nevertheless, all have some dear to them whose temporal welfare they
do without impropriety desire. But when men have obtained this health for themselves,
and for those whom they love, are we at liberty to say that they are now happy
? They have, it is true, something which it is quite becoming to desire; but
if they have not other things which are greater, better, and more full both
of utility and beauty, they are still far short of possessing a happy life.

CHAP.
VI. -- 12. Shall we then say, that in addition to this health of body men
may desire for themselves
and for those dear to them honour and power?
By all means, if they desire these in order that by obtaining them they may
promote the interest of those who may be their dependants. If they seek these
things not for the sake of the things themselves, but for some good thing which
may through this means be accomplished, the wish is a proper one; but if it
be merely for the empty gratification of pride, and arrogance, and for a superfluous
and pernicious triumph of vanity, the wish is improper. Wherefore, men do nothing
wrong in desiring for themselves and for their kindred the competent portion
of necessary things, of which the apostle speaks when he says: "Godliness
with a competency [contentment in English version] is great gain; for we brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out: and having
food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall
into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition; for the love of money is the root of
all evil, which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through with many sorrows."1 This competent portion
he desires without impropriety who desires it and nothing beyond it; for if
his desires go beyond it, he is not desiring it, and therefore his desire is
improper. This was desired, and was prayed for by him who said: "Give
me neither poverty nor riches: feed me with food convenient for me: lest I
be full, and deny Thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest be poor, and steal,
and take the name of my God in vain."2 You see assuredly that this competency
is desired not for its own sake, but to secure the health of the body, and
such provision of house and clothing as is befitting the man's circumstances,
that he may appear as he ought to do among those amongst whom he has lo live,
so as to retain their respect and discharge the duties of his position.

13. Among all these things, our own welfare and the benefits which friendship
bids us ask for others are things to be desired on their own account; but a
competency of the necessaries of life is usually sought, if it be sought in
the proper way, not on its own account, but for the sake of the two higher
benefits. Welfare consists in the possession of life itself, and health and
soundness of mind and body. The claims of friendship, moreover, are not to
be confined within tao narrow range, for it embraces all to whom love and kindly
affection are due, although the heart goes out to some of these more freely,
to others more cautiously; yea, it even extends to our enemies, for whom also
we are commanded to pray. There is accordingly no one in the whole human family
to whom kindly affection is not due by reason of the bond of a common humanity,
although it may not be due on the ground of reciprocal love;

CHAP. VII.--but in those by whom we are requited with a holy and pure love,
we find great and reasonable pleasure.

For these things, therefore, it becomes us to pray: if we have them, that
we may keep them; if we have them not, that we may get them.

14. Is this all? Are these the benefits in which exclusively the happy life
is found? Or does truth teach us that something else is to be preferred to
them all ? We know that both the competency of things necessary, and the well-being
of ourselves and of our friends, so long as these concern this present world
alone, are to be cast aside as dross in comparison with the obtaining of eternal
life; for although the body may be in health, the mind cannot be regarded as
sound which does not prefer eternal to temporal things; yea, tim life which
we live in time is wasted, if it be not spent in obtaining that by which we
may be worthy of eternal life. Therefore all things which are the objects of
useful and becoming desire are unquestionably to be viewed with reference to
that one life which is lived with God, and is derived from Him. In so doing,
we love ourselves if we love God; and we truly love our neighbours as ourselves,
according to the second great commandment, if, so far as is in our power, we
persuade them to a similar love of God. We love God, therefore, for what He
is in Himself, and ourselves and our neighbours for His sake. Even when living
thus, let us not think that we are securely established in that happy life,
as if there was nothing more for which we should still pray. For how could
we be said to live a happy life now, while that which alone is the object of
a well-directed life is still wanting to us?

CHAP.
VIII. -- 15. Why, then, are our desires scattered over many things, and why,
through fear of
not praying
as we ought, do we ask what we should
pray for, and not rather say with the Psalmist: "One thing have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in
His temple "?z For in the house of the Lord "all the days of life" are
not days distinguished by their successively coming and passing away: the beginning
of one day is not the end of another; but they are all alike unending in that
place where the life which is made up of them has itself no end. In order to
our obtaining this true blessed life, He who is Himself the True Blessed Life
has taught us to pray, not with much speaking, as if our being heard depended
upon the fluency with which we express ourselves, seeing that we are praying
to One who, as the Lord tells us, "knoweth what things we have need of
before we ask Him.", Whence it may seem surprising that, although He has
forbidden "much speaking," He who knoweth before we ask Him what
things we need has nevertheless given us exhortation to prayer in such words
as these: "Men ought always to pray and not to faint;" setting before
us the case of a widow, who, desiring to have justice done to her against her
adversary, did by her persevering entreaties persuade an unjust judge to listen
to her, not moved by a regard either to justice or to mercy, but overcome by
her wearisome importunity; in order that we might be admonished bow much more
certainly the Lord God, who is merciful and just, gives ear to us praying continually
to Him, when this widow, by her unremitting supplication, prevailed over the
indifference of an unjust and wicked judge, and how willingly and benignantly
He fulfils the good desires of those whom He knows to have forgiven others
their trespasses, when this suppliant, though seeking vengeance upon her adversary,
obtained her desire.3 A similar lesson the Lord gives in the parable of the
man to whom a friend in his journey had come, and who, having nothing to set
before him, desired to borrow from another friend three loaves (in which, perhaps,
there is a figure of the Trinity of persons of one substance), and finding
him already along with his household asleep, succeeded by very urgent and importunate
entreaties in rousing him up, so! that he gave him as many as he needed, being
moved rather by a wish to avoid further annoyance than by benevolent thoughts:
from which! the Lord would have us understand that, if even one who was asleep
is constrained to give, even in spite of himself, after being disturbed in
his sleep by the person who asks of him, how much more kindly will He give
who never sleeps, and who rouses us from sleep that we may ask from Him.4

16. With
the same design He added: "Ask, and ye shall receive; seek,
and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that
asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it
shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will
he give him a stone ? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent
? or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your
heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?" s We have here
what corresponds to those three things which the apostle commends: faith is
signified by 'the fish, either on account of the element of water used in baptism,
or because it remains unharmed amid the tempestuous waves of this world,contrasted
with which is the serpent, that with poisonous deceit persuaded man to disbelieve
God; hope is signified by the egg, because the life of the young bird is not
yet in it, but is to be is not seen, but hoped for, because "hope which
is seen is not hope," 6 -- contrasted with which is the scorpion, for
the man who hopes for eternal life forgets the things which are behind, and
reaches forth to the things which are before, for to him it is dangerous to
look back; but the scorpion is to be guarded against on account of what it
has in its tail, namely, a sharp and venomous sting; charity, is signified
by bread, for "the greatest of these is charity," and bread surpasses
all other kinds of food in usefulness, --contrasted with which is a stone,
because hard hearts refuse to exercise charity. Whether this be the meaning
of these symbols, or some other more suitable be found, it is at least certain
that He who knoweth how to give good gifts to His children urges us to "ask
and seek and knock."

17. Why
.this should be done by Him who "before we ask Him knoweth what
things we have need of," might perplex our minds, if we did not understand
that the Lord our God requires us to ask not that thereby our wish may be intimated
to Him, for to Him it cannot be unknown, but in order that by prayer there
may be exercised in us by supplications that desire by which we may receive
what He prepares to bestow. His gifts are very great, but we are small and
straitened in our capacity of receiving. Wherefore it is said to us: "Be
ye enlarged, not bearing the yoke along with unbelievers. 7 For, in proportion
to the simplicity of our faith, the firmness of our hope, and the ardour of
our desire, will we more largely receive of that which is immensely great;
which "eye hath not seen," for it is not colour; which "the
ear hath not heard," for it is not sound; and which hath not ascended
into the heart of man, for the heart of man must ascend to it.1

CHAP.
IX. -- 18. When we cherish uninterrupted desire along with the exercise of
faith and hope
and charity,
we "pray always." But at certain stated
hours and seasons we also use. words in prayer to God, that by these signs
of things we may admonish ourselves, and may acquaint ourselves with the measure
of progress which we have made in this desire, and may more warmly excite ourselves
to obtain an increase of its strength. For the effect following upon prayer
will be excellent in proportion to the fen, our of the desire which precedes
its utterance. And therefore, what else is intended by the words of the apostle: "Pray
without ceasing," 2 than," Desire without intermission, from Him
who alone can give it, a happy life, which no life can be but that which is
eternal "? This, therefore, let us desire continually from the Lord our
God; and thus let us pray continually. But at certain hours we recall our minds
from other cares and business, in which desire itself somehow is cooled down,
to the business of prayer, admonishing ourselves by the words of our prayer
to fix attention upon that which we desire, lest what had begun to lose heat
become altogether cold, and be finally extinguished, if the flame be not more
frequently fanned. Whence, also, when the same apostle says, "Let your
requests be made known unto God," 3 this is not to be understood as if
thereby they become known to God, who certainly knew them before they were
uttered, but in this sense, that they are to be made known to ourselves in
the presence of God by patient waiting upon Him, not in the presence of men
by ostentatious worship. Or perhaps that they may be made known also to the
angels that are in the presence of God, that these beings may in some way present
them to God, and consult Him concerning them, and may bring to us, either manifestly
or secretly, that which, hearkening to His commandment, they may have learned
to be His will, and which must be fulfilled by them according to that which
they have there learned to be their duty; for the angel said to Tobias:4 "Now,
therefore, when thou didst pray, and Sara thy daughter-in-law, I did bring
the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One."

CHAP.
X. -- 19. Wherefore it is neither wrong ! nor unprofitable to spend much
time in praying, if
there
be leisure for this without hindering other
good and necessary works to which duty' calls us, although even in the doing
of these, as I have said, we ought by cherishing holy desire to pray without
ceasing. For to spend a long time in prayer is not, as some think, the same
thing as to pray "with much speaking." Multiplied words are one thing,
long-continued warmth of desire is another. For even of the Lord Himself it
is written, that He continued all night in prayer,s and that His prayer was
more prolonged when He was in an agony; and in this is not an example given
to us by Him who is in time an Intercessor such as we need, and who is with
the Father eternally the Hearer of prayer?

20. The
brethren in Egypt are reported to 'have very frequent prayers, but these
very brief, and, as
it were, sudden
and ejaculatory, lest the wakeful
and aroused attention which is indispensable in prayer should by protracted
exercises vanish or lose its keenness. And in this they themselves show plainly
enough, that just as this attention is not to be allowed to become exhausted
if it cannot continue long, so it is not to be suddenly suspended if it is
sustained. Far be it from us either to use "much speaking" in prayer,
or to refrain from prolonged prayer, if fervent attention of the soul continue.
To use much speaking in prayer is to employ a superfluity of words in asking
a necessary thing; but to prolong prayer is to have the heart throbbing with
continued pious emotion towards Him to whom we pray. For in most cases prayer
consists more in groaning than in speaking, in tears rather than in words.
But He setteth our tears in His sight, and our groaning is not hidden from
Him who made all things by the word, and does not need human words.

CHAP.
XI. -- 21. To us, therefore, words are necessary, that by them we may be
assisted in considering
and observing
what we ask, not as means by which
we expect that God is to be either informed or moved to compliance. When, therefore,
we say: "Hallowed be Thy name," we admonish ourselves to desire that
His name, which is always holy, may be also among men esteemed holy, that is
to say, not despised ;. which is an advantage not to God, but to men. When
we say: "Thy kingdom come," which shall certainly come whether we
wish it or not, we do by these words stir up our own desires for that kingdom,
that it may come to us, and that we may be found worthy to reign in it. When
we say: "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," we pray for
ourselves that He would give us the grace of obedience, that His will may be
done by us in the same way as it is done in heavenly places by His angels.
When we say: "Give us this day our daily bread," the word "this
day" signifies for the present time, in which we ask either for that competency
of temporal blessings which I have spoken of before (" bread" being
used to designate the whole of those blessings, because of its constituting
so important a part of them), or the sacrament of believers, which is in this
present time necessary, but necessary in order to obtain the felicity not of
the present time, but of eternity. When we say: "Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our! debtors," we remind ourselves both what we should ask,
and what we should do in order that we may be worthy to receive what we ask.
When we say: "Lead us not into temptation," we admonish ourselves
to seek that we may not, through being deprived of God's help, be either ensnared
to consent or compelled to yield to temptation. When we say: "Deliver
us from evil," we admonish ourselves to consider that we are not yet enjoying
that good estate in which we shall experience no evil. And this petition, which
stands last in the Lord's Prayer, is so comprehensive that a Christian, in
whatsoever affliction he be placed, may in using it give utterance to his groans
and find vent for his tears -- may begin with this petition, go on with it,
and with it conclude his prayer. For it was necessary that by the use of these
words the things which they signify should be kept before our memory.

CHAP.
XII. -- 22. For whatever other words we may say,- whether the desire of the
person praying
go before
the words, and employ them in order to give
definite form to its requests, or come after them, and concentrate attention
upon them, that it may increase in fervour, -- if we pray rightly, and as becomes
our wants, we say nothing but what is already contained in the Lord's Prayer.
And whoever says in prayer anything which cannot find its place in that gospel
prayer, is praying in a way which, if it be not unlawful, is at least not spiritual;
and I know not how carnal prayers can be lawful, since it becomes those who
are born again by the Spirit to pray in no i other way than spiritually. For
example, when one prays: "Be Thou glorified among all nations as Thou
art glorified among us," and "Let Thy prophets be found faithful,"'
what else does he ask than, "Hallowed be Thy name "? When one says: "Turn
us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved," '
what else is he saying than, "Let Thy kingdom come "? When one says: "Order
my steps in Thy word, and let not any iniquity have dominion over me," 3
what else is he saying than, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven "?
When one says: "Give me ne, neither poverty nor riches," 4 what else
is this than, Give us this day our daily bread "? When one says: "Lord,
remember David, and all his compassion," s or, "O Lord, if I have
done this, if there be iniquity in my hands, if I have rewarded evil to them
that did evil to me," 6 what else is this than, "Forgive us our debts
as we forgive our debtors "? When one says: "Take away from me the
lusts of the appetite, and let not sensual desire take hold on me," 7
what else is this than, "Lead us not into temptation"? When one says: "Deliver
me from mine enemies, O my God; defend me from them that rise up against me," s
what else is this than, "Deliver us from evil "? And if you go over
all the words of holy prayers, you will, I believe, find nothing which cannot
be comprised and summed up in the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. Wherefore,
in praying, we are free to use different words to any extent, but we must ask
the same things; in this we have no choice.

23. These
things it is our duty to ask without hesitation for ourselves and for our
friends, and
for strangers
-- yea, even for enemies; although in the
heart of the person praying, desire for one and for another may arise, differing
in nature or in strength according to the more immediate or more remote relationship.
But he who says in prayer such words as, "0 Lord, multiply my riches;" or, "Give
me as much wealth as Thou hast given to this or that man;" or, "Increase
my honours, make me eminent for power and fame in this world," or something
else of this sort, and who asks merely from a desire for these things, and
not in order through them to benefit men agreeably to God's will, I do not
think that he will find any part of the Lord's Prayer in connection with which
he could fit in these requests. Wherefore let us be ashamed at least to ask
these things, if we be not ashamed to desire them. If, however, we are ashamed
of even desiring them, but feel ourselves overcome by the desire, how much
better would it be to ask to be freed from this plague of desire by Him to
whom we say, "Deliver us from evil"!

CHAP.
XIII. -- 24. You have now, if I am not mistaken, an answer to two questions,
-- what kind
of person
you ought to be if you would pray, and what things you
should ask in prayer; and the answer has been given not by my teaching, but
by His who has condescended to teach us all. A happy life is to be sought after,
and this is to be asked from the Lord God. Many different answers have been
given by many in discussing wherein true happiness consists; but why should
we go to many teachers, or consider many answers to this question? It has been
briefly and truly stated in the divine Scriptures, "Blessed is the people
whose God is the Lord." ' That we may be numbered among this people, and
that we may attain to beholding Him and dwelling for ever with Him, "the
end of the commandment is, charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience,
and of faith unfeigned."2 In the same three, hope has been placed instead
of a good conscience. Faith, hope, and charity, therefore, lead unto God the
man who prays, i.e. who believes, hopes, and desires, and is guided as to what
he should ask from the Lord by studying the Lord's Prayer. Fasting, and abstinence
from gratifying carnal desire in other pleasures without injury to health,
and especially frequent almsgiving, are a great assistance in prayer; so that
we may be able to say, "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord, with
my hands in the night before Him, and I was not deceived." s For how can
God, who is a Spirit, and who cannot be touched, be sought with hands in any
other sense than by good works?

CHAP.
XIV. -- 25. Perhaps you may still ask why the apostle said, "We
know not what to pray for as we ought," 4 for it is wholly incredible
that either he or those to whom he wrote were ignorant of the Lord's Prayer.
He could not say this either rashly or falsely; what, then, do we suppose to
be his reason for the statement? Is it not that vexations and troubles in this
world are for the most part profitable either to heal the swelling of pride,
or to prove and exercise patience, for which, after such probation and discipline,
a greater reward is reserved, or to punish and eradicate some sins; but we,
not knowing what beneficial purpose these may serve, desire to be freed from
all tribulation? To this ignorance the apostle showed that even he himself
was not a stranger (unless, perhaps, he did it notwithstanding his knowing
what to pray for as he ought), when, lest he should be exalted above measure
by the greatness of the revelations, there was given unto him a thorn in the
flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him; for which thing, not knowing surely
what he ought to pray for, he besought the Lord thrice that it might depart
from him. At length he received! the answer of God, declaring why that which
so great a man prayed for was denied, and why it was expedient that it should
not be done: "My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect
in weakness."5

26. Accordingly,
we know not what to pray for as we ought in regard to tribulations, which
may do
us good or
harm; and yet, because they are hard and painful, and
against the natural feelings of our weak nature, we pray, with a desire which
is common to mankind, that they may be removed from us. But we ought to exercise
such submission to the will of the Lord our God, that if He does not remove
those vexations, we do not suppose ourselves to be neglected by Him, but rather,
in patient endurance of evil, hope to be made partakers of greater good, for
so His strength is perfected in our weakness. God has sometimes in anger granted
the request of impatient petitioners, as in mercy He denied it to the apostle.
For we read what the Israelites asked, and in what manner they asked and obtained
their request; but while their desire was granted, their impatience was severely
corrected? Again, He gave them, in answer to their request, a king according
to their heart, as it is written, not according to His own heart? He granted
also what the devil asked, namely, that His servant, who was to be proved,
might be tempted.s He granted also the request of unclean spirits, when they
besought Him that their legion might be sent into the great herd of swine.9
These things are written to prevent any one from thinking too highly of himself
if he has received an answer when he was urgently asking anything which it
would be more advantageous for him not to receive, or to prevent him from being
cast down and despairing of the divine compassion towards himself if he be
not heard, when, perchance, he is asking something by the obtaining of which
he might be more grievously afflicted, or might be by the corrupting influences
of prosperity wholly destroyed. In regard to such things, therefore, we know
not what to pray for as we ought. Accordingly, if anything is ordered in a
way contrary to our prayer, we ought, patiently bearing the disappointment,
and in everything giving thanks to God, to entertain no doubt whatever that
it was right that the will of God and not our will should be done. For of this
the Mediator has given us an example, inasmuch as, after He had said, "Father,
if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," transforming the human
will which was in Him through His incarnation, He immediately added, "Nevertheless,
O Father, not as I will but as Thou wilt."'° Wherefore, not without
reason are many made righteous by the obedience of One."

27. But
whoever desires from the Lord that "one thing," and seeks
after it, 12 asks in certainty and in confidence, and has no fear lest when
obtained it be injurious to him, seeing that, without it, anything else which
he may have obtained by asking in a right way is of no advantage to him. The
thing referred to is the one true and only happy life, in which, immortal and
incorincorruptible in body and spirit, we may contemplate the joy of the Lord
for ever. All other things are desired, and are without impropriety prayed
for, with a view to this one thing. For whosoever has it shall have all that
he wishes, and cannot possibly wish to have anything along with it which would
be unbecoming. For in it is the fountain of life, which we must now thirst
for in prayer so long as we live in hope, not yet seeing that which we hope
for, trusting under the shadow of His wings before whom are all our desires,
that we may be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of His house, and made
to drink of the river of His pleasures; because1 with Him is the fountain of
life, and in His light we shall see light,, when our desire shall be satisfied
with good things, and when there shall be nothing beyond to be sought after
with groaning, but all things shall be possessed by us with rejoicing. At the
same time, because this blessing is nothing else than the "peace which
passeth all understanding,"2 even when we are asking it in our prayers,
we know not what to pray for as we ought. For inasmuch as we cannot present
it to our minds as it really is, we do not know it, but whatever image of it
may be presented to our minds we reject, disown, and condemn; we know it is
not what we are seeking, although we do not yet know enough to be able to define
what we seek.

CHAP.
XV.--28. There is therefore in us a certain learned ignorance, so to speak--an
ignorance which
we learn
from that Spirit of God who helps our infirmities.
For after the apostle said, "If we hope for that we see not, then do we
with patience wait for it," he added in the same passage, "Likewise
the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray
for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us, with groanings
which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is in
the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according
to the will of God." a This is not to be understood as if it meant that
the Holy Spirit of God, who is in the Trinity, God unchangeable, and is one
God with the Father and the Son, intercedes for the saints like one who is
not a divine person; for it is said, "He maketh intercession for the saints," because
He enables the saints to make intercession, as in another place it is said, "The
Lord your God proverb you, that He may know whether ye love Him," 4 i.e.
that He may make you know. He therefore makes the saints intercede with groanings
which cannot be uttered, when He inspires them with longings for that great
blessing, as yet unknown, for which we patiently wait. For how is that which
is desired set forth in language if it be unknown, for if it were utterly unknown
it would' not be desired; and on the other hand, if it were seen, it would
not be desired nor sought for with groanings?

CHAP.
XVI. -- 29. Considering all these things, and whatever else the Lord shall
have made known to you
in
this matter, which either does not occur to
me or would take too much time to state here, strive in prayer to overcome
this world: pray in hope, pray in faith, pray in love, pray earnestly and patiently,
pray as a widow belonging to Christ. For although prayer is, as He has taught,
the duty of all His members, i.e. of all who believe in Him and are united
to His body, a more assiduous attention to prayer is found to be specially
enjoined in Scripture upon those who are widows. Two women of the name of Anna
are honourably named there, -- the one, Elkanah's wife, who was the mother
of holy Samuel; the other, the widow who recognised the Most Holy One when
He was yet a babe. The former, though married, prayed with sorrow of mind and
brokenness of heart because she had no sons; and she obtained Samuel, and dedicated
him to the Lord, because she vowed to do so when she prayed for him.s It is
not easy, however, to find to what petition of the Lord's Prayer her petition
could be referred, unless it be to the last, "Deliver us from evil," because
it was esteemed to be an evil to be married and not to have offspring as the
fruit of marriage. Observe, however, what is written concerning the other Anna,
the widow: she "departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings
and prayers night and day." 6 In 'like manner, the apostle said in words
already quoted, "She that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in
God and continueth in supplications and prayers night and day ;" 7 and
the Lord, when exhorting men to pray always and not to faint, made mention
of a widow, who, by persevering importunity, persuaded a judge to attend to
her cause, though he was an unjust and wicked man, and one who neither feared
God nor regarded man. How incumbent it is on widows to go beyond others in
devoting time to prayer may be plainly enough seen from the fact that from
among them are taken the examples set forth as an exhortation to all to earnestness
in prayer.

30. Now what makes this work specially suitable to widows but their bereaved
and desolate condition? Whosoever, then, understands that he is in this world
bereaved and desolate as long as he is a pilgrim absent from his Lord, is careful
to commit his widowhood, so to speak, to his God as his shield in continual
and most fervent prayer. Pray, therefore, as a widow of Christ, not yet seeing
Him whose help you implore. And though you are very wealthy, pray as a poor
person, for you have not yet the true riches of the world to come, in which
you have no loss to fear. Though you have sons and grandchildren, and a large
household, still pray, as I said already, as one who is desolate, for we have
no certainty in regard to all temporal blessings that they shall abide for
our consolation even to the end of this present life. If you seek and relish
the things that are above, you desire things everlasting and sure; and as long
as you do not yet possess them, you ought to regard yourself as desolate, even
though all your family are spared to you, and live as you desire. And if you
thus act, assuredly your example will be followed by your most devout daughter-in-law,1
and the other holy widows and virgins that are settled in peace under your
care; for the more pious the manner in which you order your house, the more
are you bound to persevere fervently in prayer, not engaging yourselves with
the affairs of this world further than is demanded in the interests of religion.

31. By
all means remember to pray earnestly for me. I would not have you yield such
deference to the
office
fraught with perils which I bear, as to refrain
from giving the assistance which I know myself to need. Prayer was made by
the household of Christ for Peter and for Paul. I rejoice that you are in His
household; and I need, incomparably more than Peter and Paul did, the help
of the prayers of the brethren. Emulate each other in prayer with a holy rivalry,
with one heart, for you wrestle not against each other, but against the devil,
who is the common enemy of all the saints. "By fasting, by vigils, and
all mortification of the body, prayer is greatly helped." 2 Let each one
do what she can; what one cannot herself do, she does by another who can do
it, if she loves in another that which personal inability alone hinders her
from doing; wherefore let her who can do less not keep back the one who can
do more, and let her who can do more not urge unduly her who can do less. For
your conscience is responsible to God; to each other owe nothing but mutual
love. May the Lord, who is able to do above what we ask or think, give ear
to your prayers.3

LETTER CXXXI. (A.D. 412.)

TO HIS MOST EXCELLENT DAUGHTER, THE NOBLE AND DESERVEDLY ILLUSTRIOUS LADY
PROBA, AUGUSTIN SENDS GREETING IN THE LORD.

You speak
the truth when you say that the soul, having its abode in a corruptible body,
is restrained
by this
measure of contact with the earth, and is somehow
so bent and crushed by this burden that its desires and thoughts go more easily
downwards to many things than upwards to one. For Holy Scripture says the same: "The
corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth
down the mind that museth upon many things." 4 But our Saviour, who by
His healing word raised up the woman in the gospel that had been eighteen years
bowed down 5 (whose case was, perchance, a figure of spiritual infirmity),
came for this purpose, that Christians might not hear in vain the call, "Lift
up your hearts," and might truly reply, "We lift them up to the Lord." Looking
to this, you do well to regard the evils of this world as easy to bear because
of the hope of the world to come. For thus, by being rightly used, these evils
become a blessing, because, while they do not increase our desires for this
world, they exercise our patience; as to which the apostle says, "We know
that all things work together for good to them that love God: "6 all things,
he saith -- not only, therefore, those which are desired because pleasant,
but also those which are shunned because painful; since we receive the former
without being carried away by them, and bear the latter without being crushed
by them, and in all give thanks, according to the divine command, to Him of
whom we say, "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually
be in my mouth," 7 and, "It is good for me that Thou hast humbled
me, that I might learn Thy statutes." 8 The truth is, most noble lady,
that if the calm of this treacherous prosperity were always smiling upon us,
the soul of man would never make for the haven of true and certain safety.
Wherefore, in returning the respectful salutation due to your Excellency, and
expressing my gratitude for your most pious care for my welfare, I ask of the
Lord that He may grant to you the rewards of the life to come, and consolation
in the present life; and I commend myself to the love and prayers of all of
you in whose hearts Christ dwells by faith.

In my desire for your welfare, both in this world and in Christ, I am perhaps
not even surpassed by the prayers of your pious mother. Wherefore, in reciprocating
your salutation with the respect due to your worth, I beg to exhort you, as
earnestly as I can, not to grudge to devote attention to the study of the Writings
which are truly and unquestionably holy. For they are genuine and solid truth,
not winning their way to the mind by artificial eloquence, nor giving forth
with flattering voice a vain and uncertain sound. They deeply interest the
man who is hungering not for words but for things; and they cause great alarm
at first in him whom they are to render safe from fear. I exhort you especially
to read the writings of the apostles, for from them you will receive a stimulus
to acquaint yourself with the prophets, whose testimonies the apostles use.
If in your reading or meditation on what you have read any question arises
to the solution of which I may appear necessary, write to me, that I may write
in reply. For, with the Lord helping me, I may perhaps be more able to serve
you in this way than by personally conversing with you on such subjects, partly
because, through the difference in our occupations, it does not happen that
you have leisure at the same times as I might have it, but especially because
of the irrepressible intrusion of those who are for the most part not adapted
to such discussions, and take more pleasure in a war of words than in the clear
light of knowledge; whereas, whatever is written stands always at the service
of the reader when he has leisure, and there can be nothing burdensome in the
society of that which is taken up or laid aside at your own pleasure.

LETTER CXXXIII. (A.D. 412.)

TO MARCELLINUS,1 MY NOBLE LORD, JUSTLY DISTINGUISHED, MY SON VERY MUCH BELOVED
AUGUSTIN SENDS GREETING IN THE LORD.

1. I have learned that the Circumcelliones and clergy of the Donatist faction
belonging to the district of Hippo, whom the guardians of public order had
brought to trial for their deeds, have been examined by your Excellency, and
that the most of them have confessed their share in the violent death which
the presbyter Restitutus suffered at their hands, and in the beating of Innocentius,
another Catholic presbyter, as well as in digging out the eye and cutting off
the finger of the said Innocentius. This news has plunged me into the deepest
anxiety, lest perchance your Excellency should judge them worthy, according
to the laws, of punishment not less severe than suffering in their own persons
the same injuries as they have inflicted on others. Wherefore I write this
letter to implore you by your faith in Christ, and by the mercy of Christ the
Lord Himself, by no means to do this or permit it to be done. For although
we might silently pass over the execution of criminals who may be regarded
as brought up for trial not upon an accusation of ours, but by an indictment
presented by those to whose vigilance the preservation of the public peace
is entrusted, we do not wish to have the sufferings of the servants of God
avenged by the infliction of precisely similar injuries in the way of retaliation.
Not, of course, that we object to the removal from these wicked men of the
liberty to perpetrate further crimes; but our desire is rather that justice
be satisfied without the taking of their lives or the maiming of their bodies
in any part, and that, by such coercive measures as may be in accordance with
the laws, they be turned from their insane frenzy to the quietness of men in
their sound judgment, or compelled to give up mischievous violence and betake
themselves to some useful labour. This is indeed called a penal sentence; but
who does not see that when a restraint is put upon the boldness of savage violence,
and the remedies fitted to produce repentance are not withdrawn, this discipline
should be called a benefit rather than vindictive punishment?

2. Fulfil,
Christian judge, the duty of an affectionate father; let your indignation
against their :
crimes
be tempered by considerations of humanity; be not provoked
by the atrocity of their sinful deeds to gratify the passion of revenge, but
rather be moved by the wounds which these deeds have inflicted on their own
souls to exercise a desire to heal them. Do not lose now that fatherly care
which you maintained when prosecuting the examination, in doing which you :extracted
the confession of such horrid crimes, not by stretching them on the rack, not
by furrowing their flesh with iron claws,1 not by scorching them with flames,
but by beating them with rods, a mode of correction used by schoolmasters?
and by parents themselves in chastising children, and often also by bishops
in the sentences awarded by them. Do not, therefore, now punish with extreme
severity the crimes which you searched out with lenity. The necessity for harshness
is greater in the investigation than in the infliction of punishment; for even
the gentlest men use diligence and stringency in searching out a hidden crime,
that they may find to whom they may show mercy. Wherefore it is generally necessary
to use more rigour in making inquisition, so that when the crime has been brought
to light, there may be scope for displaying clemency. For all good works love
to be set in the light, not in order to obtain glory from men, but, as the
Lord saith, "that they seeing your good works may glorify your Father
who is in heaven." 3 And, for the same reason, the apostle was not satisfied
with merely exhorting us to practise moderation, but also commands us to make
it known: "Let your moderation," he says, "be known unto all
men; "4 and in another place, "Showing all meekness unto all men." 5
Hence, also, that most signal forbearance of the holy David, when he mercifully
spared his enemy when delivered into his hand,6 would not have been so conspicuous
had not his power to act otherwise been manifest. Therefore let not the power
of executing vengeance inspire you with harshness, seeing that the necessity
of examining the criminals did not make you lay aside your clemency. Do not
call for the executioner now when the crime has been found out, after having
forborne from calling in the tormentor when you were finding it out.

3. In fine, you have been sent hither for the benefit of the Church. I solemnly
declare that what I recommend is expedient in the interests of the Catholic
Church, or, that I may not seem to pass beyond the boundaries of my own charge,
I protest that it is for the good of the Church belonging to the diocese of
Hippo. If you do not hearken to me asking this favour as a friend, hearken
to me offering this counsel as a bishop; although, indeed, it would not be
presumption for me to say -- since I am addressing a Christian, and especially
in such a case as this -- that it becomes you to hearkem to me as a bishop
commanding with authority, my noble and justly distinguished lord and much
-- loved son. I am aware that the principal charge of law cases connected with
the affairs of the Church has been devolved on your Excellency, but as I believe
that this particular case belongs to the very illustrious and honourable proconsul,
I have written a letter 7 to him also, which I beg you not to refuse to give
to him, or, if necessary, recommend to his attention; and I entreat you both
not to resent our intercession, or counsel, or anxiety, as officious. And let
not the sufferings of Catholic servants of God, which ought to be useful in
the spiritual upbuilding of the weak, be sullied by the retaliation of injuries
on those who did them wrong, but rather, tempering the rigour of justice, let
it be your care as sons of the Church to commend both your own faith and your
Mother's clemency.

May almighty God enrich your Excellency with all good things, my noble and
justly distinguished lord and dearly beloved son!

1. O man
who art a pattern of goodness and uprightness, you ask me to apply to you
for instruction in
regard to
some of the obscure passages which occur
in my reading. I accept at your command the favour of this kindness, and willingly
offer myself to be taught by you, acknowledging the authority of the ancient
proverb, "We are never too old to learn." With good reason the author
of this proverb has not restricted by any limits or end our pursuit of wisdom;
for truth,8 secluded in its original principles, is never so disclosed to those
who approach it as to be wholly revealed to their knowledge. It seems to me,
therefore, my lord truly holy, and father justly revered, worth while to communicate
to you the substance of a conversation which recently took place among us.
I was present at a gathering of friends, and a great many opinions were brought
forward there, such as the disposition and studies of each suggested. Our discourse
was chiefly, however, on the department of rhetoric which treats of proper
arrangement.9 I speak to one familiar with the subject, for you were not long
ago a teacher of these things. Upon this followed a discussion regarding "invention" in
rhetoric, its nature, what boldness it requires, how great the labour, involved
in methodical arrangement, what is the charm of metaphors, and the beauty of
illustrations, and the power of applying epithets suitable to the character
and nature of the subject in hand. Others extolled with partiality the poet's
art. This part also of eloquence is not left unnoticed or unhonoured by you.
We may appropriately apply to you that line of the poet: "The ivy is intertwined
with the laurels which reward your victory."1 We spoke, accordingly, of
the embellishments which skilful arrangement adds to a poem, of the beauty
of metaphors, and of the sublimity of well-chosen comparisons; then we spoke
of smooth and flowing versification, and, if I may use the expression, the
harmonious variation of the pauses in the lines? The conversation turned next
to a subject with which you are very familiar, namely, that philosophy which
you were wont yourself to cherish after the manner of Aristotle and Isocrates.
We asked what had been achieved by the philosopher of the Lyceum, by the varied
and incessant doubtings of the Academy, by the debater of the Porch, by the
discoveries of natural philosophers, by the self-indulgence of the Epicureans;
and what had been the result of their boundless zeal in disputation with each
other, and how truth was more than ever unknown by them after they assumed
that its knowledge was attainable.

2. While
our conversation continues on these. topics, one of the large company says: "Who among us is so thoroughly acquainted with the wisdom taught
by Christianity as to be able to resolve the doubts by which I am entangled,
and to give firmness to my hesitating acceptance of its teaching by arguments
in which truth or probability may claim my belief ?" We are all dumb with
amazement. Then, of his own accord, he breaks forth in these words: "I
wonder whether the Lord and Ruler of the world did indeed fill the womb of
a virgin ; -- did His mother endure the protracted fatigues of ten months,
and, being yet a virgin, in due season bring forth her child, and continue
even after that with her virginity intact?" To this he adds other statements: "Within
the small body of a crying infant He is concealed whom the universe .scarcely
can contain; He bears the years of childhood, He grows up, He is established
in the rigour of manhood; this Governor is so long an exile from His own dwelling-place,
and the care of the whole world is transferred to one body of insignificant
dimensions. Moreover, He falls asleep, takes food to support Him, is subject
to all the sensations of mortal men. Nor did the proofs of so great majesty
shine forth with adequate fulness of evidence; for the casting out of devils,
the curing of the sick, and the restoration of the dead to life are, if you
consider others who have wrought these wonders, but small works for God to
do." We prevent him from continuing such questions, and the meeting having
broken up, we referred the matter to the valuable decision of experience beyond
our own, lest, by too rashly intruding into hidden things, the error, innocent
thus far, should become blameworthy.

You have heard, O man worthy of all honour, the confession of our ignorance;
you perceive what is requested at your hands. Your reputation is interested
in our obtaining an answer to these questions. Ignorance may, without harm
to religion, be tolerated in other priests; but when we come to Bishop Augustin,
whatever we find unknown to him is no part of the Christian system. May the
Supreme God protect your venerable Grace, my lord truly holy and justly revered!

LETTER CXXXVI. (A.D. 412.)

TO AUGUSTIN, MY LORD MOST VENERABLE, AND FATHER SINGULARLY WORTHY OF ALL POSSIBLE
SERVICE FROM ME, I, MARCELLINUS SEND GREETING.

1. The noble Volusianus read to me the letter of your Holiness, and, at my
urgent solicitation, he read to many more the sentences which had won my admiration,
for, like everything else coming from your pen, they were worthy of admiration.
Breathing as it did a humble spirit, and rich in the grace of divine eloquence,
it succeeded easily in pleasing the reader.. What especially pleased me was
your strenuous effort to establish and hold up the steps of one who is somewhat
hesitating, by counselling him to form a good resolution. For I have every
day some discussion with the same man, so far as my abilities, or rather my
lack of talent, may enable me. Moved by the earnest entreaties of his pious
another, I am at pains to visit him frequently, and he is so good as to return
my visits from time to time. But on receiving this letter from your venerable
Eminence, though he is kept back from firm faith in the true God by the influence
of a class of persons who abound in this city, he was so moved, that, as he
himself tells me, he was prevented only by the fear of undue prolixity in his
letter from unfolding to you every possible difficulty in regard to the Christian
faith. Some things, however, he has very earnestly asked you to explain, expressing
himself in a polished and accurate style, and with the perspicuity and brilliancy
of Roman eloquence, such as you will yourself deem worthy of approbation. The
question which he has submitted to you is indeed worn threadbare in controversy,
and the craftiness which, from the same quarter, assails with reproaches the
Lord's incarnation is well known. But as I am confident that whatever you write
in reply will be of use to a very large number, I would approach you with the
request, that even in this question you would condescend to give a thoroughly
guarded answer to their false statement that in His works the Lord performed
nothing beyond what other men have been able to do. They are accustomed to
bring forward their Apollonius and Apuleius, and other men who professed magical
arts, whose miracles they maintained to have been greater than the Lord's.

2. The
noble Volusianus aforesaid declared also in the presence of a number, that
there were many
other things
which might not unreasonably be added to
the question which he has sent, were it not that, as I have already stated,
brevity had been specially studied by him in his letter. Although, however,
he forbore from writing them, he did not pass them over in silence. For he
is wont to say that, even if a reasonable account of the Lord's incarnation
were now given to him, it would still be very difficult to give a satisfactory
reason why this God, who is affirmed to be the God also of the Old Testament,
is pleased with new sacrifices after having rejected the ancient sacrifices.
For he alleges that nothing could be corrected but that which is proved to
have been previously not rightly done; or that what has once been done rightly
ought not to be altered in the very least. That which has been rightly done,
he said, cannot be changed without wrong, especially because the variation
might bring upon the Deity the reproach of inconstancy. Another objection which
he stated was, that the Christian doctrine and preaching were in no way consistent
with the duties and rights of citizens; because, to quote an instance frequently
alleged, among its precepts we find, "Recompense to no man evil for evil,"1
and, "Whosoever shall smite thee on one cheek, turn to him the other also;
and if any man take away thy coat, let him have I thy cloak also; and whosoever
shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain;"2 -- all which he affirms
to be contrary to the duties and rights of citizens. For who would submit to
have anything taken from him by an enemy, or forbear from retaliating the evils
of war upon an invader who ravaged a Roman province? The other precepts, as
your Eminence understands, are open to similar objections. Volusianus thinks
that all these difficulties may be added to the question formerly stated, especially
because it is manifest (though he is silent on this point) that very great
calamities have befallen the commonwealth under the government of emperors
observing, for the most part, the Christian religion.3

3. Wherefore, as your Grace condescends along with me to acknowledge, it is
important that all these difficulties be met by a full, thorough, and luminous
reply (since the welcome answer of your Holiness will doubtless be put into
many hands); especially because, while this discussion was going on, a distinguished
lord and proprietor in the region of Hippo was present, who ironically said
some flattering things concerning your Holiness, and affirmed that he had been
by no means satisfied when he inquired into these matters himself.

I, therefore, not unmindful of your promise, but insisting on its fulfilment,
beseech you to write, on the questions submitted, treatises which will be of
incredible service to the Church, especially at the present time.

LETTER CXXXVII. (A.D. 412.)

TO MY MOST EXCELLENT SON, THE NOBLE AND JUSTLY DISTINGUISHED LORD VOLUSIANUS,
AUGUSTIN SENDS GREETING IN THE LORD.

Chap. I. -- I. I have read your letter, containing an abstract of a notable
conversation given with praiseworthy conciseness. I feel bound to reply to
it, and to forbear from alleging any excuse for delay; for it happens opportunely
that I have a short time of leisure from occupation with the affairs of other
persons. I have also put off in the meantime dictating to my amanuensis certain
things to which I had purposed to devote this leisure, for I think it would
be a grievous injustice to delay answering questions which I had myself exhorted
the questioner to pro. pound. For which of us who are administering, as we
are able, the grace of Christ would wish to see you instructed in Christian
doctrine only so far as might suffice to secure to yourself salvation not salvation
in this present life, which, as the word of God is careful to remind us, is
but a vapor appearing for a little while and then vanishing away, but that
salvation in order to the obtaining and eternal possession of which we are
Christians? It seems to us too l little that you should receive only so much
instructions suffices to your own. deliverance. For your gifted mind, and your
singularly able land lucid power of speaking, ought to be of service to all
others around you, against whom, whether slowness or perversity be the cause,
it is necessary to defend in a competent way the dispensation of such abounding
grace, which small minds in their arrogance despise, boasting that they can
do very great things, while in fact they can do nothing to cure or even to
curb their own vices.

2. You
ask: "Whether the Lord and Ruler of the world did indeed fill
the womb of a virgin? did His mother endure the protracted fatigues of ten
months, and, being yet a virgin, in due season bring forth her child, and continue
even after that with her virginity intact? Was He whom the universe is supposed
to be scarcely able to contain concealed within the small body of a crying
infant? did He bear the years of childhood, and grow up and become established
in the rigour of manhood? Was this Governor so long an exile from His own dwelling-place,
and was the care of the whole world transferred to a body of such insignificant
dimensions? Did He sleep, did He take food as nourishment, and was He subject
to all the sensations of mortal men?" You go on to say that "the
proofs of His great majesty do not shine forth with any adequate fulness of
evidence; for the casting out of devils, the curing of the sick, and the restoration
of the dead are, if we consider others who have performed these wonders, but
small works for God to do." 1 This question, you say, was introduced in
a certain meeting of friends by one of the company,, but that the rest of you
prevented him from bringing forward any further questions, and, breaking up
the meeting, deferred the consideration of the matter till you should have
the benefit of experience beyond your own, lest, by too rashly intruding into
hidden things, the error, innocent thus far, should become blame-worthy.

3. Thereupon you appeal to me, and request me to observe what is desired from
me after this confession of your ignorance. You add, that my reputation is
concerned in your obtaining an answer to these questions, because, though ignorance
is tolerated without injury to religion in other priests, when an inquiry is
addressed to me, who am a bishop, whatever is not known to me must be no part
of the Christian system.

I begin,
therefore, by requesting you to lay aside the opinion which you have too
easily. formed
concerning
me, and dismiss those sentiments, though they
are gratifying evidences of your goodwill, and believe my testimony rather
than any other's regarding myself, if you reciprocate my affection. For such
is the depth of the Christian Scriptures, that even if I were attempting to
study them and nothing else from early boyhood to decrepit old age, with the
utmost leisure, the most unwearied zeal, and talents greater than I have, I
would be still daily making progress in discovering their treasures; not that
there is so great difficulty in coming through them to know the things necessary
to salvation, but when any one has accepted these truths with the faith that
is indispensable as the foundation of a life of piety and uprightness, so many
things which are veiled under manifold shadows of mystery remain to be inquired
into by those who are advancing in the study, and so great is the depth of
wisdom not only in the words in which these have been expressed, but also in
the things themselves, that the experience of the oldest, the ablest, and the
most zealous students of Scripture illustrates what Scripture itself has said: "When
a man hath done, then he beginneth."2

Chap. II. -- 4. But why say more as to this? must rather address myself to
the question which you propose. In the first place, I wish you to understand
that the Christian doctrine does not hold that the Godhead was so blended with
the human nature in which He was born of the virgin that He either relinquished
or lost the administration of the universe, or transferred it to that body
as a small and limited material substance. Such an opinion is held only by
men who are incapable of conceiving of anything but material substances --
whether more dense, like water and earth, or more subtle, like air and light;
but all alike distinguished by this condition, that none of them can be in
its entirety everywhere, because, by reason of its many parts, it cannot but
have one part here, another there, and however great or small the body may
be, it must occupy some place, and so fill it that in its entirety it is in
no one part of the space occupied. And hence it is the distinctive property
of material bodies that they can be condensed and rarefied, contracted and
dilated, crushed into small fragments and enlarged to great masses. The nature
of the soul is very far different from that of the body; and how much more
different must be the nature of God, who is the Creator of both soul and body
! God is not said to fill the world in the same way as water, air, and even
light occupy space, so that with a greater or smaller part of Himself He occupies
a greater or smaller part of the world. He is able to be everywhere present
in the entirety of His being: He cannot be confined in any place: He can come
without leaving the place where He was: He can depart without forsaking the
place to which He had come.

5. The
mind of man wonders at this, and because it cannot comprehend it, refuses,
perhaps, to believe
it. I,et
it, however, not go on to wonder incredulously
at the attributes of the Deity without first wondering in like manner at the
mysteries within itself;1 let it, if possible, raise itself for a little above
the body, and above those things which it is accustomed to perceive by the
bodily organs, and let it contemplate what that is which uses the body as its
instrument. Perhaps it cannot do this, for it requires, as one has said, great
power of mind to call the mind aside from the senses, and to lead thought away
from its wonted track? Let the mind, then, examine the bodily senses in this
somewhat unusual manner, and with the utmost attention. There are five distinct
bodily senses, which cannot exist either without the body or without the soul;
because perception by the senses is possible, on the one hand, only while a
man lives, and the body receives life from the soul; and on the other hand,
only by the instrumentality of the body vessels and organs, through which we
exercise sight, hearing, and the three other senses. Let the reasoning m soul
concentrate attention upon this subject, and: consider the senses of the body
not by these senses themselves, but by its own intelligence and, reason. A
man cannot, of course, perceive by these senses unless he lives; but up to
the time when soul and body are separated by death, he lives in the body. How,
then, does his soul, which lives nowhere else than in his body, perceive things
which are beyond the surface of that body? Are not the stars in heaven very
remote from his body? and yet does he not see the sun yonder? and is not seeing
an exercise of the bodily senses -- may, is it not the noblest of them all?
What, then? Does he live in heaven as well as in his body, because he perceives
by one of his senses what is in heaven, and perception by sense cannot be in
a place where there is no life of the person perceiving? Or does he perceive
even where he is not living -- because while he lives only in his own body,
his perceptive sense is active also in those places which, outside of his body
and remote from it, contain the objects with which he is in contact by sight
? Do you see how great a mystery there is even in a sense so open to our observation
as that which we call sight? Consider hearing also, and say whether the soul
diffuses itself in some way abroad beyond the body. For how do we say, "Some
one knocks at the door," unless we exercise the sense of hearing at the
place where the knock is sounding ? In this case also, therefore, we live beyond
the limits of our bodies. Or can we perceive by sense in a place in which we
are not living? But we know that sense cannot be in exercise where life is
not.

6. The other three senses are exercised through immediate contact with their
own organs. Perhaps this may be reasonably disputed in regard to the sense
of smell; but there is no controversy ins to the senses of taste and touch,
that we perceive nowhere else than by contact with our bodily organism the
things which we taste and touch. Let these three senses, therefore, be set
aside from present consideration The senses of sight and hearing present to
us a wondered question, requiring us to explain either how the soul I can perceive
by these senses in a place where it does not live, or how it can live in a
place where it is not. For it is not anywhere but in its own body, and yet
it perceives by these senses in places beyond that body. For in whatever place
the soul sees anything, in that place it is exercising the faculty of perception,
because seeing is an act of perception; and in whatever place the soul hears
anything, in that place it is exercising the faculty of perception, because
hearing is an act of perception. Wherefore the soul is either living in that
place where it sees or hears, and consequently is itself in that place, or
it exercises perception in a place where it is not living, or it is living
in a place and yet at the same moment is not there. All these things are astonishing;
not one of them can be stated without seeming absurdity; and we are speaking
only of senses which are mortal. What, then, is the soul itself which is beyond
the bodily senses, that is to say, which resides in the understanding I whereby
it considers these mysteries ? For it is not by means of the senses that it
forms a judgment concerning the senses themselves. And do we suppose that something
incredible is told us regarding the omnipotence of God, when it is affirmed
that the Word of God, by whom all things were made, did so assume a body from
the Virgin, and manifest Himself with mortal senses, as neither to destroy
His own immortality, nor to change His eternity, nor to diminish His power,
nor to relinquish the government of the world, nor to withdraw from the bosom
of the Father, that is, from the secret place where He is with Him and in Him?

7. Understand the nature of the Word of God, by whom all things were made,
to be such that you cannot think of any part of the Word as passing, and, from
being future, becoming past. He remains as He is, and He is everywhere in His
entirety. He comes when He is manifested, and departs when He is concealed.
But whether concealed or manifested, He is present with us as light is present
to the eyes both of the seeing and of the blind; but it is felt to be present
by the man who sees, and absent by him who is blind. In like manner, the sound
of the voice is near alike to the hearing and to the deaf, but it makes its
presence known to the former and is hidden from the latter. But what is more
wonderful than what happens in connection with the sound of our voices and
our words, a thing, for-sooth, which passes away in a month? For when we speak,
there is no place for even the next syllable till after the preceding one has
ceased to sound; nevertheless, if one hearer be present, he hears the whole
of what we say, and if two hearers be present, both hear the same, and to each
of them it is the whole; and if a multitude listen in silence, they do not
break up the sounds like loaves of bread, to be distributed among them individually,
but all that is uttered is imparted to all and to each in its entirety. Consider
this, and say if it is not more incredible that the abiding word of God should
not accomplish in the universe what the passing word of man accomplishes in
the ears of listeners, namely, that as the word of man is present in its entirety
to each and all of the hearers, so tile Word of God should be present in the
entirety of His being at the same moment everywhere.

8. There is, therefore, no reason to fear in regard to the small body of the
Lord in His infancy, lest in it the Godhead should seem to have been straitened.
For it is not in vast size but in power that God is great: He has in His providence
given to ants and to bees senses superior to those given to asses and camels;
He forms the huge proportions of the fig-tree from one of the minutest seeds,
although many smaller plants spring from much larger seeds; He also has furnished
the small pupil of the eye with the power which. by one glance, sweeps over
almost the half of heaven in a moment; He diffuses the whole fivefold system
of the nerves over tile body from one centre and point in the brain; He dispenses
vital motion throughout the whole body from the heart, a member comparatively
small; and by these and other similar things, He, who in small things is great,
mysteriously produces that which is great from things which are exceedingly
little. Such is the greatness of His power that He is conscious of no difficulty
in that which is difficult. It was this same power which originated, not from
without, but from within, the conception of a child in the Virgin's womb: this
same power associated with Himself a human soul, and through it also a human
body in short, the whole human nature to be elevated by its union with Him
-- without His being thereby lowered in any degree; justly assuming from it
the name of humanity, while amply giving to it the name of Godhead. The body
of the infant Jesus was brought forth from the womb of His mother, still a
virgin, by the same power which afterwards introduced His body when He was
a man through the closed door into the upper chamber? Here, if the reason of
the event is sought out, it will no longer be a miracle; if an example of a
precisely similar event is demanded. it will no longer be unique.3 Let us grant
that God can do something which we must admit to be beyond our comprehension.
In such wonders the whole explanation of the work is the power of Him by whom
it is wrought.

Chap. III. -- 9. The fact that He took rest in sleep, and was nourished by
food, and experienced all the feelings of humanity, is the evidence to men
of the reality of that human nature which He assumed but did not destroy. Behold,
this was the fact; and yet some heretics, by a perverted admiration and praise
of Hishave refused altogether to acknowledge the reality of His human nature,
in which is he guarantee of all that grace by which He saves those who believe
in Him, containing deep treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and imparting faith
to the minds which He raises to the eternal contemplation of unchangeable truth.
What if the Almighty had created the human nature of Christ not by causing
Him to be born of a mother, but by some other way, and had presented Him suddenly
to the eyes of mankind ? What if the Lord had not passed through the stages
of progress from infancy to manhood, and had taken neither food nor sleep?
Would not this have confirmed the erroneous impression above referred to, and
have made it impossible to believe at all that He had taken to Himself true
human nature; and, while leaving what was marvellous, would eliminate the element
of mercy from His actions? But now He has so appeared as the Mediator between
God and men, that, uniting the two natures in one person, He both exalted what
was ordinary by what was extraordinary, and tempered what was extraordinary
by what was ordinary in Himself.

10. But where in all the varied movements of creation is there any work of
God which is not wonderful, were it not that through familiarity these wonders
have become small in our esteem ? Nay, how many common things are trodden under
foot, which, if examined carefully, awaken our astonishment ! Take, for example,
the propertries of seeds: who can either comprehend or declare the variety
of species, the vitality, vigour, and secret power by which they from within
small compass evolve great things ? Now the human body and soul which He took
to Himself was created without seed by Him who in the natural world created
originally seeds from no pre-existent seeds. In the body which thus became
His, he who, without any liability to change in Him;elf, has woven according
to His counsel the vicissitudes of all past centuries, became subject o the
succession of seasons and the ordinary .rages of the life of man. For His body,
as it began to exist at a point of time, became developed with the lapse of
time. But the Word of God, who was in the beginning, and to whom, he ages of
time owe their existence, did not how to time as bringing round the event of
His incarnation apart from His consent, but chose he point of time at which
He freely took our nature to Himself. The human nature was brought into union
with the divine; God did not withdraw from Himself.1

11. Some resist upon being furnished with an explanation of the manner in
which the Godhead was so united with a human soul and body as to constitute
the one person of Christ, when it was necessary that this should be done once
in the world's history, with as much boldness as if they were themselves able
to furnish an explanation of the manner in which the soul is so united to:
he body as to constitute the one person of man, an event which is occurring
every day. For just as the soul is united to the body in one person so as to
constitute man, in the same way God united to man in one person so as to constitute
Christ. In the former personality there is a combination of soul and body;
in the latter here is a combination of the Godhead and man. I let my reader,
however, guard against borrowing his idea of the combination from the properties
of material bodies, by which two fluids when combined are so mixed that neither
preserves its original character; although even among material bodies there
are exceptions, such as light, which sustains no change when combined with
the atmosphere. In the person of man, therefore, there is a combination of
soul and body; in the i person of Christ there is a combination of the I Godhead
with man; for when the Word of God was united to a soul having a body, He took
into union with Himself both the soul and the body. The former event takes
place daily in the beginning of life in individuals of the human race; the
latter took place once for the salvation.of men. And yet of the two events,
the combination of two immaterial substances ought to be more easily behaved
than a combination in which the one is immaterial and the other material. For
if the soul is not mistaken in regard to its own nature, it understands itself
to be immaterial. Much more certainly does this attribute belong to the Word
of God; and consequently the combination of the Word with the human soul is
a combination which ought to be much more credible than that of soul and body.
The latter is realized by us in ourselves; the former we are commanded to believe
to have been realized in Christ. But if both of them were alike foreign to
our experience, and we were enjoined to believe that both had taken place,
which of the two would we more readily believe to have occurred? Would were
not admit that two immaterial substances could be more easily combined than
one immaterial and one material; unless, perhaps, it be unsuitable to use the
word combination in connection with these things, because of the difference
between their nature and that of material substances, both in themselves and
as known to us?

12. Wherefore the Word of God, who is also the Son of God, co-eternal with
the Father, the Power and the Wisdom of God? mightily pervading and harmoniously
ordering all things, from the highest limit of the intelligent to the lowest
limit of the material creation? revealed and concealed, nowhere confined, nowhere
divided, nowhere distended, but without dimensions, everywhere present in His
entirety, -- this Word of God, I say, took to Himself, in a manner entirely
different from that in which He is present to other creatures, the soul and
body of a man, and made, by the union of Himself therewith, the one person
Jesus Christ, Mediator between God and men,4 he His Deity equal with the Father,
in His flesh, i.e. in His human nature, inferior to the Father, -- unchangeably
immortal in respect of the divine nature, in which He is equal with the Father,
and yet changeable and mortal in respect of the infirmity which was His through
participation with our nature.

In this
Christ there came to men, at the time which He knew to be most fitting, and
which He had fixed
before
the world began, the instruction and the help
necessary to the obtaining of eternal salvation. Instruction came by Him, because
those truths which had been, for men's advantage, spoken before that time on
earth not only by the holy prophets, all whose words were true, but also by
philosophers and even poets and authors in every department of literature (for
beyond question they mixed much truth with what was false), might by the actual
presentation of His authority in human nature be confirmed as true for the
sake of those who could not perceive and distinguish them in the light of essential
Truth, which Truth was, even before He assumed human nature, present to all
who were capable of receiving truth. Moreover, by the fact of His incarnation,
He taught this above all other things for our benefit, -- that whereas men
longing after the Divine Being supposed, from pride rather than piety, that
they must approach Him not directly, but through heavenly powers which they
regarded as gods, and through various forbidden rites which were holy but profane,
-- in which worship devils succeed, through the bond which pride forms between
mankind and them in taking the place of holy angels, -- now men might understand
that the God whom they were regarding as far removed, and whom they approached
not directly but through mediating powers, is actually so very near to the
pious longings of men after Him, that He has condescended to take a human soul
and body into such union with Himself that this complete man is joined to Him
in the same way as the body is joined to the soul in man, excepting that whereas
both body and soul have a common progressive development, He does not participate
in this growth, because it implies mutability, a property which God cannot
assume. Again, in this Christ the held necessary to salvation was brought to
men, for without the grace of that faith which is from Him, no one can either
subdue vicious desires, or be cleansed by pardon from the guilt of any power
of sinful desire which he may not have wholly vanquished. As to the effects
produced by His instruction, is there now even an imbecile, however weak, or
a silly woman, however low, that does not believe in the immortality of the
soul and the reality of a life after death ? Yet these are truths which, when
Pherecydes 1 the Assyrian for the first time maintained them in discussion
among the Greeks of old, moved Pythagoras of Samos so deeply by their novelty,
as to make him turn from the exercises of the athlete to the studies of the
philosopher. But now what Virgil said we all behold: "The balsam of Assyria
grows everywhere."2 And as to the help given through the grace of Christ,
in Him truly are the words of the same poet fulfilled: "With Thee as our
leader, the obliteration of all the traces of our sin which remain shall deliver
the earth from perpetual alarm." 3

Chap.
IV. -- 13. "But," they say, "the proofs of so great majesty
did not shine forth with adequate fulness of evidence; for the casting out
of devils, the healing of the sick, and the restoration of the dead to life
are but small works for God to do, if the others who have wrought similar wonders
be borne in mind." 4 We ourselves admit that the prophets wrought some
miracles like those performed by Christ. For among these miracles what is more
wonderful than the raising of the dead? Yet both Elijah and Elisha did this.s
As to the miracles of magicians, and the question whether they also raised
the dead, let those pronounce an opinion who strive, not as accusers, but as
panegyrists, to prove Apuleius guilty of those charges of practising magical
arts from which he himself takes abundant pains to defend his reputation. We
read that the magicians of Egypt, the most skilled in these arts, were vanquished
by Moses, the servant of God, when they were working wonderfully by impious
enchantments, and he, by simply calling upon God in prayer, overthrew all their
machinations? But this Moses himself and all the other true prophets prophesied
concerning the Lord Christ, and gave to Him great glory; they predicted that
He would come not as One merely equal or superior to them in the same power
of working miracles, but as One who was truly God the Lord of all, and who
became man for the benefit of men. He was pleased to do also some miracles,
such as they had done, to prevent the incongruity of His not doing in person
such things as He had done by them. Nevertheless, He was to do also some things
peculiar to Him, self, namely, to be born of a virgin, to rise from the dead,
to ascend to heaven. I know not what greater things he can look for who thinks
these too little for God to do.

14. For I think that such signs of divine power are demanded by these objectors
as were not suitable for Him to do when wearing the nature of men. The Word
was in the beginning, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and
by Him all things were made.8 Now, when the Word became flesh, was it necessary
for Him to create another world, that we might believe Him to be the person
by whom the world was made ? But within this world it would have been impossible
to make another greater than itself, or equal to it. If, however, He were to
make a world inferior to that which now exists, this, too, would be considered
too small a work to prove His deity. Wherefore, since it was not necessary
that He should make a new world, He made new things in the world. For that
a man should be born of a virgin, and raised from the dead to eternal life,
and exalted above the heavens, is perchance a work involving a greater exertion
of power than the creating of a world. Here, probably, objectors ma, answer
that they do not believe that these things took place. What, then, can be done
for men who despise smaller evidences as inadequate, and reject greater evidences
as incredible ? That life has been restored to the dead is believed, because
it has been accomplished by others, and I is too small a work to prove him
who performs it to be God: that a true body was created in a virgin, and being
raised from death to eternal life, was taken up to heaven, is not believed,
because no one else has done this, and it is what God alone could do. On this
principle every man is to accept with equanimity whatever he thinks easy for
himself not indeed to do, but to conceive, and is to reject as false and fictitious
whatever goes beyond that limit. I beseech you, do' not be like these men.

15. These topics are elsewhere more amply discussed, and in fundamental questions
of doctrine every intricate point has been opened up by thorough investigation
and debate; but faith gives the understanding access to these things, unbelief
closes the door. What man might not be moved to faith in the doctrine of Christ
by such a remarkable chain of events from the beginning, and by the manner
in which the epochs of the world are linked together, so that our faith in
regard to present things is assisted by what happened in the past, and the
record o? earlier and ancient things is attested by later and more recent events?
One is chosen from among the Chaldeans, a man endowed with most eminent piety
and faith, that to him may be given divine promises, appointed to be fulfilled
in the last times of the world, after the lapse of so many centuries; and it
is foretold that in his seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.'
This man, worshipping the one true God, the Creator of the universe, begets
in his old age a son, when sterility and advanced years had made his wife give
up all expectation of becoming a mother. The descendants of this son become
a very numerous tribe, being increased in Egypt, to which place they had been
removed from the East, by Divine Providence multiplying as time went on both
the promises given and the works wrought on their behalf. From Egypt they come
forth a mighty nation, being brought out with terrible signs and wonders; and
the wicked nations of the promised land being driven out from before them,
they are brought into it and settled there, and exalted to the position of
a kingdom. Thereafter, frequently provoking by prevailing sin and idolatrous
impieties the true God, who had bestowed on them so many benefits, and experiencing
alternately the chastisements of calamity land the consolations of restored
prosperity, the history of the nation is brought down to the incarnation and
the manifestation of Christ. Predictions that this Christ, being the Word of
God, the Son of God, and God Himself, was to become incarnate, to die, to rise
again, to ascend into heaven, to have multitudes of all nations through the
power of His name surrendering themselves to Him, and that by Him pardon of
sins and eternal salvation would be given to all who believe in Him,- these
predictions, I say, have been published by all tim promises given to that nation,
by all the prophecies, the institution of the priesthood, the sacrifices, the
temple, and, in short, by all their sacred mysteries.

16. Accordingly Christ comes: in His birth, life, words, deeds, sufferings,
death, resurrection, ascension, all which the prophets had foretold is fulfilled?
He sends the Holy Spirit; fills with this Spirit the believers when they are
assembled in one house, and expecting with prayer and ardent desire this promised
gift. Being thus filled with the Holy Spirit, they speak immediately in the
tongues of all nations, they boldly confute errors, they preach the truth that
is most profitable for mankind, they exhort men to repent of their past blameworthy
lives, and promise pardon by the free grace of God. Signs and miracles suitable
for confirmation follow their preaching of piety and of the true religion.
The cruel enmity of unbelief is stirred up against them; they bear predicted
trials, they hope for promised blessings, and teach that which they had been
commanded to make known. Few in number at first, they become scattered like
seed throughout the world; they convert nations with won drous facility; they
grow in number in the midst of enemies; they become increased by persecutions;
and, under the severity of hardships, instead of being straitened, they extend
their influence to the utmost boundaries of the earth. From being very ignorant,
despised, and few, They become enlightened, distinguished, and numerous, men
of illustrious talents and of polished eloquence; they also bring under the
yoke of Christ, and attract to the work of preaching the way of holiness and
salvation, the marvellous attainments of men remarkable for genius, eloquence,
and erudition. Amid alternations of adversity and prosperity, they watchfully
practise patience and self-control; and when the world's day is drawing near
its close, and the approaching consummation is heralded by the calamities which
exhaust its energies, they, seeing in this the fulfilment of prophecy, only
expect with increased. confidence the everlasting blessedness of the heavenly
city. Moreover, amidst all these changes, the unbelief of the heathen nations
continues to rage against the Church of Christ; she gains the victory by patient
endurance, and by the maintenance of unshaken faith in the face of the cruelties
of her adversaries.

The sacrifice of Him in whom the truth, long veiled under mystic promises,
is revealed, having been offered, those sacrifices by which it was prefigured
are finally abolished by the utter destruction of the Jewish temple. The Jewish
nation, itself rejected because of unbelief, being now rooted out from its
own land, is dispersed to every region of the world, in order that it may carry
everywhere the Holy Scriptures, and that in this way our adversaries themselves
may bring before mankind the testimony furnished by the prophecies concerning
Christ and His Church, thus precluding the possibility of the supposition that
these predictions were forged by us to suit the time; in which prophecies,
also, the unbelief of these very Jews is foretold. The temples, images, and
impious worship of the heathen divinities are overthrown gradually and in succession,
according to the prophetic intimations. Heresies bud forth against the name
of Christ, though veiling themselves under His name, as had been foretold,
by which the doctrine of the holy religion is tested and developed. All these
things are now seen to be accomplished, in exact fulfilment of the predictions
which we read in Scripture; and from these important and numerous instances
of fulfilled prophecy, the fulfilment of the predictions which remain is confidently
expected. Where, then, is the mind, having aspirations after eternity, and
moved by the shortness of this present life, which can resist the clearness
and perfection of these evidences of the divine origin of our faith?

Chap.
V. -- 17. What discourses or writings of philosophers, what laws of any commonwealth
in any land or
age, are worthy for a moment to be compared
with the two commandments on which Christ saith that all the law and the prophets
hang: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"?'
All philosophy is here, -- physics, ethics, logic: the first, because in God
the Creator are all the causes of all existences in nature; the second, because
a good and honest life is not produced in any other way than by loving, in
the manner in which they should be loved, the proper objects of our love, namely,
God and our neighbour; and the third, because God alone is the Truth and the
Light of the rational soul. Here also is security for the welfare and renown
of a commonwealth; for no state is perfectly established and preserved otherwise
than on the foundation and by the bond of faith and of firm concord, when the
highest and truest common good, namely, God, is loved by all, and men love
each other in Him without dissimulation, because they love one another for
His sake from whom they cannot disguise the real character of their love.

18. Consider, moreover, the style in which Sacred Scripture is composed, --
how accessible it is to all men, though its deeper mysteries are penetrable
to very few. The plain truths which it contains it declares in the artless
language of familiar friendship to the hearts both of the unlearned and of
the learned; but even the truths which it veils in symbols it does not set
forth in stiff and stately sentences, which a mind somewhat sluggish and uneducated
might shrink from approaching, as a poor man shrinks from the presence of the
rich; but, by the condescension of its style, it invites all not only to be
fed with the truth which is plain, but also to be exercised by the truth which
is concealed, having both m its simple and in its obscure portions the same
truth. Lest what is easily understood should beget satiety in the reader, the
same truth being in another place more obscurely expressed becomes again desired,
and, being desired, is somehow invested with a new attractiveness, and thus
is received with pleasure into the heart. By these means wayward minds are
corrected, weak minds are nourished, and strong minds are filled with pleasure,
in such a way as is profitable to all. This doctrine has no enemy but the man
who, being in error, is ignorant of its incomparable usefulness, or, being
spiritually diseased, is averse to its healing power.

19. You see what a long letter I have written. If, therefore, anything perplexes
you, and you regard it of sufficient importance to be discussed between us,
let not yourself be straitened by keeping within the bounds of ordinary letters;
for you know as well as any one what long letters the ancients wrote when they
were treating of any subject which they were not able briefly to explain. And
even if the custom of authors in . other department. s of literature had been
different, the authority of Christian writers, whose example has a worthier
claim upon our imitation, might be set before us. Observe, therefore, the length
of the apostolic epistles, and of the commentaries written on these divine
oracles, and do not hesitate either to ask many questions if you have many
difficulties, or to handle more fully the questions which you propound, in
order that, in so far as it can be achieved with such abilities as we possess,
there may remain no cloud of doubt to obscure the light of truth.

20. For I am aware that your Excellency has to encounter the most determined
opposition from certain persons, who think, or would have others think, that
Christian doctrine is incompatible with the welfare of the commonwealth, because
they wish to see the commonwealth established not by the stedfast practice
of virtue, but by granting impunity to vice. But with God the crimes in which
many are banded together do not pass unavenged, as is often the case with a
king, or any other magistrate who is only a man. Moreover, His mercy and grace,
published to men by Christ, who is Himself man, and imparted to man by the
same Christ, who is also God and the Son of God, never fail those who live
by faith in Him and piously worship Him, in adversity patiently and bravely
bearing the trials of this life, in prosperity using with self-control and
with compassion for others the good things of this life; destined to receive,
for faithfulness in both conditions, an eternal recompense in that divine and
heavenly city in which there shall be no longer calamity to be painfully endured,
nor inordinate desire to be with laborious care controlled, where our only
work shall be to preserve, without any difficulty and with perfect liberty,
our love to God and to our neighbour.

May the infinitely compassionate omnipotence of God preserve you in safety
and increase your happiness, my noble and distinguished Lord, and my most excellent
son. With profound respect, as is due to your worth, I salute your pious and
most truly venerable mother, whose prayers on your behalf may God hear! My
pious brother and fellow bishop, Possidius, warmly salutes your Grace.